On my way to bed. I had a mad crazy day with sports and cultural photos all morning, so the intercom went all through all lessons, and students would just stand up and go as necessary. Or teachers! I also had a meeting at morning tea and detention to take at lunchtime. Then Finn texted me to say he'd forgotten his lunch! Argh! Tonight we have a billet, or as Finn called it, a bullet! The billet is a 14 year old boy from Blenheim, and it turns out his parents run a really good winery. He brought me a bottle! He's here because his team is playing Asher's school team tomorrow, and all players have to take a billet for the night. My friend's son is really quiet and she was worried he wouldn't talk to his billet, so she took all four boys home after school, and then we all had dinner together. After that, we took all the boys, four soccer boys and Finn and Liam, and they had a mad scrag in her parents' indoor pool. That was a treat. It's amazing, you take six boys, put them in a pool with a ball, and within twenty seconds they have a game going.

-That's an interesting way to do that, have families take in people for the night. It's very normal here. Most travelling teams get billeted out unless they can afford accommodation, especially high school teams. This boy just became a member of our family for 24 hours! And it turned out to be fun, the boys I met were really nice. Unfortunately they also won their game! And it rained the whole day which was a shame. But it's a good learning experience for everyone!

The wine I shall save to share with my friend, the one who cooked dinner for us all last night. Because she will certainly appreciate it! I like a nice smooth rich red wine, a light kind of white wine, but I'm not that fussy. Don't like Chardonnay so much, and thankfully Pinot Noir is 'in' now. Love Fume blanc but you don't get much of that. Like CabSav or any red really. Sauvignon blanc okay if it's cold... as I say, I'm not much of a connoisseur... hmmm, did I spell that correctly?

I think you spelled it correctly...I like Chardonnay in summer and a rich red (Argentinian Carmenere is one of my favourites) in winter. I don't like the dry whites much and I admit to prefering the more expensive reds!! We found one (a local Dao) in Portugal which was 2.30 euros and was lovely then i saw it here at £7.50... I can assure you the exchange rate isn't anywhere near that and it's just we've identified this gorgeous wine that is actually affordable!!!

We hope so! I actually think I'll see more of some of my friends than I do at the moment. For example, the 'other' Jenny and I meet about four times a year for a day - but she's likely to come to stay for a week, and I can stay with her when I come back to UK. Anyone will be welcome - but if they have any skills they might find themselves roped in!